Of President Bush and his neo Conservative allies in government he was quoted as saying they "would have faced courts martial for dereliction of duty had they been in the military." He also labelled them as "incompetent" and "corrupted".

And perhaps highlighting why the British government are so keen to get out of Iraq, he said that the best the US could hoped for in Iraq was to "stave off defeat", Gen Sanchez warned.

So for all those who say "we can still win in Iraq", wake up and smell the coffee. Lt General Sanchez was in charge of the US forces in Iraq and if he does not think so, then what makes some politicians think they know more ?